Looks like yesterday wasn’t the last Panama hearing at the SC

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was to present its final report yesterday (Monday) in the Supreme Court.

Previously, the hearing over Panama case was postponed when the judgment of 2/5 judges was outnumbered by the 3/5 judges who asked for evidence in order to prove Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif guilty, and hence the JIT was formed in order to collect evidence and present a record in 60 days time to the Supreme Court.

After investigation and questioning of facts by different members of the Sharif family, including Maryam Nawaz, the final report based on the much-hyped about Panama case was presented. Sources tell that JIT went inside the court comprising of 3 boxes of evidence.

MATTERS DISCUSSED IN THE HEARING YESTERDAY:

A case against the Chainman of Security Exchange Council of Pakistan, Zafar Hijazi, has been lodged for tempering with the records which were forwarded to Panamagate JIT. Moreover, notices have been issued to Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman, the owner of English newspaper “The News”, and writer Ahmed Noorani for misreporting certain facts.

Considering the request of Hussain Nawaz to form an inquiry commission based on the leaked photo, the Supreme Court mentioned that there is no such need of such a commission to be formed.

The bench quite openly rejected the accusations made that JIT would be handed over to the ISI. The judicial authorities have appointed the Deputy Attorney General, Ashtar Ausaf, as the prosecutor in all related cases.

No firm verdict based on the report presented by the JIT was given today. A further hearing has been scheduled a week from now, on the 17th of July, 2017.

This case was taken up by the apex court last year in October after a petition had been filed by PTI and other political parties. We await a verdict to be given by the honorable judges now, however, the court keeps getting adjourned till another date on each hearing.